Studies in the Role of Cities in Arthurian Literature and in the Value of Arthurian Literature for a Civic Identity: When Arthuriana Meet Civic Spheres

Author:

Dietl, Cora and Claudia Lauer

Year:

2009

Pages:

184

ISBN:

0-7734-3892-0978-0-7734-3892-7

Price:

159.95

The city as both a fictive room of action or a fictionalized social group within aristocratic narrative and a “real” room of production and reception of originally aristocratic fictional literature is a phenomenon which has so far been neglected by scholarly research on Arthurian literature. The present book, focuses upon cities in medieval history, culture and literature by Arthurian scholars from different continents and disciplines.

Reviews

“This volume and all its authors hope to stimulate and inspire a wide variety of research and discussion on the role of Arthurian fiction in
medieval and modern civic culture, and of cities and civic culture in Arthurian fiction. The opportunities are vast.” – Prof Ingrid Bennewitz, University of Bamberg

“Each of the contributions discloses new insights how Arthurian fiction generated new values in urban life throughout Europe from Scotland through the German Empire down to Italy and its unique city states. . . .represents one of the urgently needed opportunities for scholars working in highly specialized areas to set the results of their research before a global scholarly public.”
– Prof. Sieglinde Hartmann, University of Würzburg

“Altogether, the book seems to me to be an important contribution to Arthurian Studies, since it demonstrates how important it is to look at the city as a motive and as context for the stories. What I like especially about the book is the attention to lesser- known Arthurian texts. There are good thematic connections between the articles which are well written and pleasant to read. It is a book I would certainly ask my university library to buy.”– Dr. F.P.C. Brandsma, Utrecht University